


Across Every Universe

by ArgentLives



Series: Across Every Universe (You are Home) [25]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universes, Background Cisco/Kendra, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Kissing, Making Out, Multiple Universes, Romantic Fluff, Rough Kissing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-18
Updated: 2016-02-18
Packaged: 2018-05-21 10:58:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6049111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArgentLives/pseuds/ArgentLives
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's a million different ways that they kiss, in a million different places, on a million different earths, but somehow every single one feels like home. </p><p>[a series of vignettes of Iris and Barry making out on different Earths, that's...pretty much it]</p>
            </blockquote>





	Across Every Universe

**Author's Note:**

> written for the prompt: "Literally just a Barry iris make out fic whichever universe you want I just need it"
> 
> The summary of this should really just be "Iris and Barry kiss a lot," but I tried to make it sound nice. I sort of got carried away, so here's the two of them making out in multiple universes, because why not? ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> (disclaimer: I haven't actually kissed anyone in a long, long time, so this might be wildly off the mark -- bear with me, pls.)

[ _On Earth 2, Iris is always the dominant one in a kiss, always taking the lead. And Barry, well – he’s always more than happy to follow. Being married doesn’t make them any less aware of each other, doesn’t at all lessen what’s always been there between them, doesn’t make each kiss and every touch any less exciting._ ]

She pushes him against the wall at work and her lips are on his before he has time to breathe, and it’s insistent and hungry but somehow gentle, too, an extension of the intensity of how much they feel, how much they _love_.

“Iris,” he sighs against her lips and nearly forgets himself right there, before something sticking out of the wall behind him digs into his back and reminds him where they are. He dodges her next kiss half-heartedly, but she isn’t deterred in the least, instead dropping her lips down to his throat so that his voice comes out all high and strangled when he tries to say, “What if someone sees?”

“Oh, please,” she laughs, mouthing at his neck and somehow managing to push their bodies closer even though there had already been nearly no space between them to begin with, “You say that every time. We’ll be fine.”

She finishes trailing kisses up his jaw and nips at his bottom lip, and can’t help the gasp that slips out as he feels her hands start to wander. As usual he gives in and lets himself melt into it, dropping any pretense of caution. He dutifully follows her lead, granting her tongue its eager access to his mouth and knowing exactly where to put his hands as hers come back up to curl into the lapels of his suit, smiling into the kiss as she lets out a happy little humming noise when he gets it just right.

“Come on,” she whispers near his ear, sending pleasant little tingles across his skin. “Let’s go to your lab. More privacy.”

“So you _do_ care about being caught,” he grins, and he knows it’s too big and probably just as dorky and smitten as ever, but he can’t bring himself to care because she just kisses him again, this time keeping it short and sweet. 

“Only because you do, Mr. Fretful,” she says as she pulls away, patting his cheek affectionately. And then she takes his hand, tangling their fingers together, and pulls him down the hall. He falls easily into step by her side with only minimal tripping, and lets her lead the way, the grin never leaving his face.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

[ _On Earth 368, they’re on opposite ends of the law, enemies to a fault, and they’re always clashing and pushing and fighting and fighting. It’s all passion and fire and release, and their kisses aren’t tender, and their touches aren’t soft_. _It’s rough and raw and wrong, and neither one of them can stop._ ]

Barry knows that he could very well lose his job for this, that considering who he is and what he does _outside_ his job there’s a whole fucking  _book_ he could write of reasons why he shouldn’t be doing this, but as much as he hates her, as much as he hates what she stands for, there’s just something _intoxicating_ about being with her. Especially like this, after a particularly tense face-off, when he’s still in his suit and she’s still in hers – both perfect representations of two very opposing things. 

“Come _on_ , Flash,” she growls, trailing her nails down his back just hard enough to leave marks, scratches he knows from experience will be gone by morning anyway. “Losing your nerve?”

“Shut up,” he hisses in return, pressing her further into the mattress, wiping the stupid smirk off her face with a kiss that’s just as rough as ever. It’s all tongues and teeth and twisted pleasure, and he can taste the blood on her mouth from the split in her lip from their fight earlier, a cut that’s not quite fresh but bleeding again under pressure, and by the time he pulls away he’s sure his lips are just as red and swollen as hers.

“You’re much too _slow,_ Flash,” she taunts as he works carefully at the clasps of her suit, her ridiculous, wonderful, black leather get-up. He levels her with another glare before pulling the stupid thing off in one easy motion, to hell with being gentle, and speeds her out of it.

“Much better,” she says, grinning up at him and running her tongue over her teeth, washing away the blood in her smile.

“You are fucking _infuriating_ ,” he shakes his head, gritting his teeth to fight off a smile because the last thing he needs in this situation is to start letting himself feel. He drops his mouth down to her neck and works his way down so that she can’t see his face, putting his fingers to work in the meantime.

“You’re just mad because I kicked your – ah – _ah_ – there you go- _oh_ –” she shivers underneath his touch as he finally reaches his destination. Her hands scrabble at the top of his head, ripping back the cowl of his suit with a snarl so that she can grab a handful of hair beneath it, twisting her fingers into it and letting her nails pierce his scalp, digging them in hard enough that it’s painful but feels so _good_.

“B-because I – _fuck, yes, there_ – I kicked your –  _aah –ass_ today,” she finishes with a gasp, her back arching as his tongue circles just the right spot, vibrating just how he knows she likes it, her body tensing just before the release and then going slack. He crawls back up the mattress and can’t help but feel a little smug at how heavily she’s still breathing, but there’s something different in the way she’s looking at him that makes him uneasy, all at once hyper-aware that his face is uncovered and she’s not just seeing the Flash anymore, she’s seeing  _him_.

“You took my mask off,” he says, glaring at her again and ignoring the way the hunger and satisfaction in her eyes, dark and hooded, makes his stomach flip. She grins that infuriating grin in response, but doesn’t say anything, which of course is even worse. “You know that’s against the rules of our – of this –”

She arches an eyebrow at him in amusement as he fumbles for the right word, and slips a slender hand underneath her own mask – one that doesn’t obscure the entirety of her head like his does, but enough of her face to hide most of her features. She tugs it off easily, tossing it to the side and grinning, grinning, grinning, and looking all the world like a wolf preparing to devour its prey.

“There, we’re even. God, you heroes are so whiny – all uptight about your rules and your  _codes_ and –”

He cuts her off by crashing his lips against hers again, hungry and just a little desperate because he doesn’t see her out of the mask often and she might be sick, and twisted, and a fucking _super-villain_ but God, it always takes him a little off guard. He wonders how it’s possible that the image of every inch of her face isn’t burned at the back of his mind by now, how he could possibly forget any of it. She’s beautiful, she’s so fucking beautiful, and in these moments she’s his. 

“You didn’t kick my ass,” he finally says, dragging his teeth across her throat and watching her face all the while, her neck thrown back and eyes closed in a way that should look relaxed but somehow only makes her more dangerous – at least to him. “Are you forgetting the part where _I_ won?”

“Oh, sweetheart, don’t be so sure,” she laughs, but it’s more mocking than amused – teasing, but in that cutting way of hers. She cracks an eye open to watch him, something positively lethal in the way she bares her teeth when her lips twist up at the edges. “I got off with what I needed from that bank _and_ with the city’s darling little hero. I’d say I’m leaving here with the upper hand.”

“What are you talking about?” he narrows his eyes, suddenly feeling much too exposed as she studies his face, wanting to pull his cowl up and hide behind his mask like they always do with each other. “I stopped you from –”

Before he can even get the sentence out she has him flipped, pinning him to the bed with surprising strength, grinning down at him like the cat that caught the canary. He’s the fucking _Flash_ , he should be fast enough to see it coming – but somehow she still catches him off guard. When he tries to move from underneath her, by the time he’s processed what’s happened, he realizes she’s handcuffed him to the bed with the very handcuffs he was supposed to be bringing her into the station with. He curses to himself for letting his guard down in the first place and – _when had she even…?_

He grits his teeth and closes his eyes, furious with himself as she grabs a bag off the ground full of everything he’d been planning to take back, and when he opens them again she’s standing right in front of the bed, leering at his misfortune. He glares at her with all the hatred he can muster, a steady rhythm starting to pound between his temples from all the frustration and the anger, and she just _laughs_. 

She leans over the edge of the bed, bracing herself so that she’s hovering over him, and kisses him hard – a goodbye that’s not sweet, one that holds no promise but feels much more like gloating. And he hates that he can’t stop himself from returning it, greedy and wanting even despite what she’s done. She drags his bottom lip through her teeth as she pulls away, letting her nails pierce his chest before straightening back up. He watches her pull on her suit, mask last, and saunter over to the window, pushing it open with ease.

“Til next time, _Flash,_ ” she says with mischief in her eyes and a bitter smile curling her lips, and then the next second she’s gone. He knows he could easily phase out of the cuffs, knows that he could do it now and go after her and he could’ve done it before, stopped her in her tracks, but he doesn’t, and he didn’t, and he feels another sickening pang in his chest as he realizes _she_ knew it too. 

(He doesn’t hate her, not really. He hates himself for doing this, for letting himself feed into this ridiculous hunger with someone who stands against everything he stands for, but he doesn’t hate her. He tries and he tries and he should, but he can’t.)

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

[ _On Earth 212379, there’s no such thing as meta-humans or superheroes or supervillains, but there are, apparently, creatures of a different kind. This time they’re separated by land and sea, but not even that can stop them._ ]

“Iris,” he calls out, and she grins to herself, swimming quickly to their spot, a warm feeling blossoming in her chest when she sees him there waiting for her – laying on his stomach at the edge of the dock, eyes squinted against the dark and searching the water for any sign of her. 

“I’m here,” she says, popping her head out of the water as soon as she reaches him, and his the second he sees her his smile grows. The dock is low enough that all she has to do is to tilt her head upward and meet him halfway, and so she does just that, and, as expected, his lips are waiting for her. She smiles at the taste of it and not for the first time wonders what it must feel like on his end, wonders if it’s the same as it is for her – so strange and yet somehow so natural.

She pulls back from the kiss and cups Barry’s face in her hand, rubbing her thumb across his cheek and leave a thin trail of water in its wake. She lets her other hand wander until it finds one of his, still clutching the edge of dock to keep him from falling as he leans over the edge to reach her, and she coaxes his grip to relax until she can pry his fingers away and tangle them together with her own, distracting him with another wet kiss.

He shifts a bit, skootching a little bit further up so that his front half is more or less hanging off the edge, desperate to be closer, and she waits until she’s sure he’s just where she wants him before grinning against his lips and tugging hard, pulling him off of the dock and into the water next to her with a _splash_.

“Iris,” his voice climbs a pitch in surprise, and he flounders to gather his bearings, now soaking-wet and fully clothed. 

“Sorry,” Iris laughs, not sounding very sorry at all, swimming over to him and wrapping him up in her arms, breathing in his strange human scent, all earthy and warm. “But I couldn’t help myself. You were too far away.”

He huffs, glaring at her rather ineffectively due to the smile that he’s clearly working hard to hold back, looking absolutely adorable with his hair water-flattened and dripping down over his eyes, little droplets clinging to his eyelashes that almost look like they’re sparkling in the moonlight.

“Oh, don’t be such a spoilsport, I know you missed me,” she teases, pulling back a bit to flick water in his face and laughing again at the way he scrunches up his nose. He gives up trying to hold back his smile, letting himself return hers full force, and as always it’s like sunlight even in the darkness that surrounds them. 

“Yeah, I guess I did,” he grins, and pulls her closer, “Water’s cold though – you’ll have to warm me up to make up for it.”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way,” she says, smiling so wide her cheeks hurt, and does just that.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

[ _On Earth 5455, there’s a million different things trying to keep them apart, a million different reasons why they’re not supposed to be together, and all their kisses are stolen and rushed, each one as desperate as the next._ ]

“We don’t have much time,” Iris whispers, looping her arms around his neck, pushing herself up on her tip-toes as he lowers his head to meet hers, closing her eyes and touching their foreheads together. It’s dark in their current hideout, she can barely even make out the soft expression on his face in just the dim light that filters in underneath the door, but she doesn’t need to see to know how he’s looking at her right now, or to know she’s safe with him, even despite the risk they’re taking. There’s no one she trusts more.

“I know,” he says, quiet as ever, and his lips are so close they brush against hers when he speaks, letting her close the small distance between them. It’s gentle and tentative, because that’s how they have to be – cautious and careful and always looking over their shoulders.

“Shhh,” Barry whispers when she starts to get too noisy, tangling a hand through her hair and kissing a familiar path down her neck, and she has to bite her lip to hold back another gasp.

“I wish – I wish we didn’t have to hide,” she says, crooking a finger under his chin and bringing his face up to meet hers again, suddenly desperate to see his eyes again in the limited light and the borrowed time they’re working with.

“I know,” he sighs again, running a hand down her side and bringing the other up to wipe away the wetness under her eyes with his thumb. She hadn’t even realized when she’d started crying, but he she can tell he is too. He doesn’t mention it, just kisses away the evidence of her tears drying on cheeks and holds her closer, and when his mouth is on hers again she can taste the salt from her tears on his lips. “I know.”

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

[ _On Earth 17, they’re just ordinary people – met at a coffee shop, fell quickly in love, married fresh out of college, and absolutely insufferable with PDA; in fact, they’ve almost made it into a game: always trying to out-scandalize their friends and making out in even the strangest of places._ ] 

“Get a rooooom,” someone – probably Cisco – groans in exasperation from…somewhere in the general vicinity. It’s sort of hard to tell right now, because Iris is more-or-less straddling his lap and she’s got her tongue down his throat and his arms are tight around her back, and everything is Iris, Iris, Iris – the smell of her perfume, the feel of her skin against his, the smile on her lips as she kisses him. “I’m serious, you guys are relentless. We’re in a stadium _full of people_ right now. The seats are tiny! Isn’t that freaking you out?”

“Mmmbthspaeybkmsco,” Barry tries to say with his mouth still very much occupied, and he can practically hear Cisco rolling his eyes at him from – wherever he’s standing. Wait – sitting. Right, they’re sitting.

“Dude. _What_?”

“I think,” Iris laughs, and Barry feels warm all over at the sound of it, peppering kisses along her jaw as she finally turns to face their mortified friend. “What Barry was trying so eloquently to say was that this is payback.”

“Payback for what?” Cisco balks, his gaze flickering between the two of them. 

“For volunteering us for this little double date without even asking us first when you knew it was our date night tonight. And you know date night means –”

“ _I know what it means_ ,” Cisco cuts her off, eyes going wide in mortification and suddenly feeling much too hot under the collar as they spot Kendra making her way back up to them, hotdog in hand. “Could you please just – Kendra’s coming back, please, don’t – you two are _impossible_ , Jesus –”

“Mmm.”

“Hmmmm?”

“Look, I’m sorry, okay? Kendra just really loves baseball and she didn’t want to waste the extra tickets and i just got _nervous_ – aaaand you’re not even listening, are you?” he huffs when he notices they’re back to _very heavily_ making out. Barry tries to shrug in response, but his shoulders are still kind of pinned down by Iris and he’s honestly not sure if he succeeds.

“Hey, sorry about them,” he hears Cisco laugh awkwardly, voice strained, and he assumes Kendra must have reclaimed her seat next to him. He can almost picture Cisco gesturing towards him and Iris in that I’m-angry-but-not-actually way of his, but he’s too content to open his eyes to check. “They’re the worst when it comes to – _mmph!_ ”

Barry feels Iris grin against his lips, and he squeezes her arm in response, a silent congratulations on a job well done because they can tell without looking that Kendra has clearly just cut Cisco off with a kiss. And Cisco thought they were being impossible – they were clearly just leading the way for their friends. 

“Wha–what’re you…?” he hears Cisco stammer, and Kendra laughs. Barry can’t resist peeking an eye open to look sideways at their progress, his grin widening when he notices Iris doing the same. She gives him a quick thumbs up that he quickly returns, and that thankfully Cisco is too preoccupied to catch. 

“Kiss cam,” Kendra grins at Cisco, pointing to the monitor, and sure enough, there they are, and Barry briefly catches a glimpse of himself and Iris next to them, very enthusiastically making out and looking completely oblivious to the world around them – including the applause and wolf whistles that are clearly being directed their way.

Cisco opens his mouth to reply, but before he can, Kendra is kissing him again, and this time he doesn’t seem to hold back. Barry lets the world around him fade to background noise, getting lost in Iris all over again. Cisco can thank him later. 

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

[ _On Earth 1, being together is like being home. It’s the most familiar and most heart-achingly right thing in the world – it’s just taken them a little longer to get there._ ]

“How many Earths do you think are out there?” Iris asks him, breathless, as she leans into his touch, cataloging every detail of the hands that are framing her face, soft and gentle and everything she’s been missing, and the flecks of gold in his eyes she can see from this close, and the way he looks at her like – like she wants to kick herself for not noticing it sooner because watching him now, feeling what he feels, it seems impossible that she could’ve been so unaware for so long.

“Who knows,” Barry hums, trailing his thumb lightly over her bottom lip, and it’s only then that she realizes her lips are still parted. She closes her eyes at the contact, basking in the pleasant and persistent buzz it leaves on her mouth, like it’s aching for his touch and oh-so-very impatient. “Probably a lot. Why?”

“There has to be more than two,” she says with her eyes shut, waiting, waiting, waiting. Her heart is racing and his is too, she can _feel_ it, and there’s a warmth that settles all the way down to her bones because this is all so new but somehow it feels like she’s been here a million times before, in his arms like this, his lips so _close_ , waiting… 

“Do you think we’ve done this on every one? You know, like the ‘us’ from Earth 2, and now there’s _us_ here…” she muses when he doesn’t respond, instead tracing a path from the bridge of her nose to the dips under her eyes to her cheekbones and across her jawline with shaking fingers. She licks her lips and silently wills him to just _kiss her already_ because she can feel him hesitating and if he waits any longer she’s going to explode with all the pent-up _everything_ from months and – if she’s being honest with herself – years of bottling all of this up inside her. Right now, all she can think when she takes in the fastest man alive, looking at her like he can’t even believe she’s real and this close, is that they’re going too _slow_. 

And then she thinks fuck it, she’s done waiting, and she closes the small distance between them and kisses him hard. She wraps her arms around his shoulders and drinks in the contact, the intoxicating feeling of knowing this is exactly where she belongs and what they’re meant to be. There’s no need to be hesitant, really, and she can tell Barry knows it too, because somehow they just get how to move together, and kissing Barry is like reaching the perfect equilibrium without even having to try – equal parts tender and hungry and _home_. 

It’s a while before they break apart, and even when they do they stay wrapped up in each other. Iris lets out a shaky breath and buries her face in the crook of Barry’s neck as he holds her close, and she can hear the smile in his voice when he finally answers the question still sitting at the back of her mind. 

“Yeah,” he says, “Something tells me we have.”


End file.
